I have been dying to by a cold air intake for my TLS. I have search just about every thread here and it looks like most recommend the AEM V2. Unfortunately I am TOO cheap. I mean come on it is just a freaken pipe and filter. I am leaning towards a fujita. Nice price and looks good. So anyway I haven't bought anything yet but wanted to prepare my car for the intake and take out the resonator. Well after a while of struggling with it I got it off but then I looked at it and thought "isn't this basically a cai"? Basically the intake has a snorkel that brings cold air into the engine. Am I missing something here? Also if installing a cai why not use the flexible rubber tube from the throttle body? You could just plug in the pipe with the filter on it. Thoughts?

 

Right mostly for cooler air. Cooler air is more dense so more O2 molecules per unit. More O2 molecules gets more fuel for a full burn. More fuel = more power.

Gains with CAI's are somewhat questionable - rarely (if ever) as much as the manufacturer claims.

The other part is air flow and particularly laminar vs turbulent flow. So your CAI needs to deliver that cooler air in an orderly fashion.

Finally is looks and sound. Part of the appeal of the V2 (based only on what I've read) is the sound; better/more growl. Users also report better performance than competitors, but I can't say how valid that is or where the performance gain occurs.

I've had the Fujita for a while (18 months or so?) and am very pleased. Same as you, I just couldn't see spending an extra $50+ for minimal additional result.

 

You probably could do that but the rubber tube keeps the air hot. it doesn't dissipate heat like Aluminum does. I had that same set up in my stratus. I just bought an adapter for the filter and ran the stock pipe. When i finally got a custom built intake pipe i did notice a different sound and there was a bit of a power increase but nothing to get too excited about.


Bearcat94 is right about spending more money on a specific brand.... Aluminum is aluminum... Most places use 6061 aluminum anyway so you will get the same performance out of it IMO. The sounds may be different and the flow of air as well due to HOW it is built. Different Manufacturers may make the pipe smaller or bigger but it will do relatively the same. When talking about an Intake pipe... i dont think the HP gains are big enough to justify paying more money for basically the same thing.

 

So the aluminum piping helps with heat soak? Didn't know the stock plastic tubing retained heat. Never really thought about it. But it makes sense. Metal heatsinks radiate heat out of a pc. I guess it works similar. Thanks guys. So I guess I'll be picking up the fujita in the week or so. Can't wait!

 

Even if you get no HP gains, the sound is worth it! But you will probably gain a couple ponies as well. I love my CAI

 

www.lmgtfy.com/coldairintake

 

linky no worky phee

 

you can get about the same results by building it out of CPVC pipe and thermal wrap. The question is whether or not you want to pay over $100 for a shiny.

The stock intake is a CAI. It draws cool air into the engine. That's the definition. Aftermarket intakes delete the resonator, which makes the engine sound louder. Most people who report gains from just an intake are not putting the car on a dyno. it's just a seat-of-the-pants measurement. The car feels faster. But it's a pretty universal truth that the butt dyno is full of shit. The louder, lower engine note can make you think the car's accelerating faster than before, whether it is or not.

Also, generally speaking, just smacking an intake on the car without doing anything else isn't going to help you all that much. The car comes from the factory with a balanced intake and exhaust. The exhaust is designed to flow the amount of air that the car was designed at the factory to flow. Same story for the intake and exhaust manifolds. If you slap a bigger intake on there without doing something to the rest of the chain to allow it to remove all that extra air, you won't really be doing much. In general, you need to do intake, headers, and exhaust in order to really open things up.

One reason intakes rarely produce the power that the vendor claims is that the vendor is assuming (for the sake of not getting caught falsely advertising something) that the intake will be paired with equivalent headers and exhaust. This is why a "10hp" intake, a 5hp intake header, a 10hp exhaust header, and a 20hp exhaust will not get you an extra 45hp.

 

i was wondering since i heard this but wanna make sure, does a CAI helps a car give better gas mileage?

 

Some have reported this but I can't believe it. Most likely gas mileage will go down just because the sound of the new intake is a nice growl which most will want to hear more.

 

Well I finally pulled the trigger and shot my wad on a Fujita CAI!!!

I chose this one because it was the best price I could find: 212.00 shipped. Came in a big orange box. Just installed it and noticed the replacement coolant line leaks a little so no real test run plus it was getting late when I was finished. I will be buying a coolant line today with better clamps. All in all it was a pretty easy install as most have said. I did not completely remove the bumper. Just the drivers side. It was a little tight but not too bad. Let see if the pics will show up...

 

Guess Not!!!!!

 

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2717...34151284qchWhK

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2638...34151284oivVYK

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2418...34151284DlwBvK

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2767...34151284gEKSbo

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2185...34151284HJRTtl

 

Well, how does it sound? And the butt dyno? Any difference?

 

Be careful here, the metal is able to transfer heat better than rubber, but do you want to? Remember the intake charge is cold and dense from the ambient, versus the temperature of your engine bay. I would think a highly insulated intake tube would be desirable. This would be different if it were a turbocharged application.

 

You mean like this?:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...6&postcount=42

 

Err not necessarily like that, but along the idea. Did he end up with temp readings before and after?

 

Not that I know of.

 

I mentioned this in the "Ultimate Cooling Mod" thread. Air is flowing at such a high rate into the engine that I doubt there is much time for it to heat up inside a heat-soaked aluminum intake tube. If you drive the car hard, stop and feel the intake tube, it isn't all that warm. It's not like the air is passing through a flame and into the engine. It's being pulled from an ambient outside air location and sucked right into the engine.

 

These prices are exactly why I would never pay for a CAI. When you get into the faster cars, 11 second and faster you start to see mostly homemade CAIs consisting of parts from the Home Depot or Lowe's sewer piping department.

If you have the choice, plastic or rubber is better than metal. You don't want to transfer heat from the engine bay into the charge air. How much heat transfer is debatable since the air is flowing so fast.

You guys really want to know why these companies use metal? Sound. Metal piping makes the intake louder. They put sound above performance.

The truth that most don't want to hear is you're just as good by removing the stock resonator and getting air from behind the bumper with the stock airbox.

As the car is modded and power levels increase and airflow demand is increased, you may see more of a gain from the aftermarket system.

I have to laugh when I see all these threads with people debating over which CAI to get. They're all the same power wise. The best CAI is one that draws air from behind the grill and has a 3.5" pipe all the way to the TB. This system would be invisible to the engine for up to 450hp. By invisible, it poses no restriction whatsoever as if it's not even there. Behind the grill is going to be the coolest air. You're away from the asphalt and you have tons of fresh air. Ram air is impossible at speeds of less than 200mph with an inlet less than 4' diameter so lets not go there.

Again, every piece you need is at Home Depot. They have 45 degree elbows, 90 degree, 22 degree, 3" to 3.5" adaptors, etc. Spend $35 for a filter and another $35 in parts and you'll have a custom CAI that will kill anything offered by the aftermarket that you'll never have to upgrade even if you surpass 400hp.

You guys do realize there's about $50 in parts in these aftermarket "$200" CAIs, right?

 

The faster the air (turbulent flow) increases heat transfer.

 

That and looks. People who don't understand actual performance mods go for the shiny

 

i still like the aftermarket intakes worth the money for me. Just by it used lol. I love the shinyiness and sound! Don't care much bout HP gains.

 

That makes no sense to me. You pay good money for something shiny under the hood that makes more noise. If it gave good gains and didn't compromise performance for looks, then by all means make it look nice.

 

I will start a "shiny things under the hood" company just for you...

I have no manufacturing experience but I love money. We should do business.

 

then i'll start buying the pcs from HD and paint them in rustoleum aluminum and sell it for $200 haha

 

 

me too. It's all show and no go for me. I'm not modding to put the Acura on a drag or track. I'm doing it so people can turn heads and be wowed at our awesome rides from a pure visual and "audible" stand point.

 

I did that once to a CRX as a joke. Got the biggest diameter PVC pipe I could find. I think it was 6 inches or something crazy like that. Had to get a hell of a rubber reducer just to get it to hook up to the TB. Painted it shiny silver - even buffed it to look as much like metal as possible, and stuck a monster K&N cone on the end.

Joke backfired. People from all over got very excited and wanted to know where I bought the awesome intake.

 

PREACH BROTHER...I always laugh when my buddies spend $200+ on CAI when they could just use their brains and make their own. I'm currently making my own right now. Im only making it for the sound and do not expect my car to be any faster.

 

Which CAI do you have? Props to how your ride looks...so i wanna know which one you went with. I'm with you on the sound, even if I only gain 5 hp...the sound is worth. I have the ATLP exhaust on order so I'm sure it will work well with a CAI.

 

i like the idea of building a cai.im concerned with how it will fit in engine compartment,diameter of the tube,what kind of tube to buy, how the mass air flow sensor comes into play and if u can buy clamps for it

 

Fortunately for you, the TL doesn't use a MAF meter. Use a minimum of 3" diameter, preferably 3.5". Aluminum of steel will work fine. Plastic as long as it's strong enough to support itself and not collapse once it gets hot. If you mount it to the body/frame of the car, make sure to have enough flex built into it for engine torque and vibration. You can leave a gap on one of the joints where they're joined with silicone or rubber to allow the flex. You will need a place for the fresh air side of the PCV system to scavenge from or you can just put a small filter on the factory hose.

You can also just start the aftermarket portion at the factory hose where it clamps to the airbox. This way you don't have to worry about PCV, it has plenty of flex are built into it already, and you save materials. Power won't change either way.